The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program. The new variety originated from a cross pollination of the seed parent, Guzmania lingulata×wittmackii with the pollen parent Guzmania lingulata, directed by the inventors during 1999.
It was discovered by the co-inventors, Chester Skotak Jr., a citizen of Costa Rica, and Herb Hill, a citizen of the United States in 2002 in Ajauela, Costa Rica in a group of seedlings resulting from the 1999 crossing.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘Skohicli’ was first performed in Costa Rica by tissue culture in April 2003. ‘Skohicli’ has since produced several generations by micro-propagation and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.